The dark haired girl was ecstatic. She was free, far away from the lab, and she had her magic back. But she was also worried. She knew what she wanted to do, but she wasn't sure her young charge would want to come with her.
"So Robin, what do you want to do with your life?" asked Valkyrie. The younger girl looked up in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want to do now that you're free?"
"Oh," said Robin, "I don't know. I never really thought about it. I guess… I guess I want to find out who my parents were. And… I want to learn how to do that thing you did."
"What thing?' replied the Irish girl.
"That thing you did, when you threw the fire at the Erasers."
"Oh, magic. Well, I could teach you, but I don't know very much myself. Plus, you might not be able to do it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, not everyone can do magic, it depends on the person. I can do it, and my ancestors could do it, but my cousins might not."
"So how do we find out if I can do it? Is there some kind of test?"
"No, not really. Give me a second." The tall girl stretched out her left wing and plucked a dark brown feather tipped with black. "Here. If you manage to move this without touching it, then you can do magic. Here, I'll show…" Suddenly, the feather flew out of her hand to land into the delighted five year old's hand.
"Like that?" she asked
"How did you do that?"
"I just thought of it floating into my hand. Are you okay? Your eyes look like they're going to pop out of your head." The older girl did her best to calm down.
"How long have you been able to do that?"
"Always. I thought anyone could do it. Is it magic?"
"I don't know." She sighed. "Well, I suppose there isn't much sense in teaching you how to control air. I'll have to teach you how to control fire instead. Okay, it's more dangerous than air, but here's how it works. You need to snap your fingers and picture the spark that is produced. Try to catch it and make it grow. Like this." Valkyrie snapped her fingers and produced a small fireball the size of her fist. The younger girl snapped her fingers, but nothing happened.
"It'll take a lot of patience. You keep practicing, I'll find us something to eat." And with that, Valkyrie flew off to hunt.